Saturday, December 02, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 336: Batman Explains It All for You


"Batman and Robin Stand Up for Sportsmanship!" from Batman (1940 series) #57 (February-March 1950), script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Win Mortimer, letters by Ira Schnapp

Especially pay attention to this part! It was true in 1950, and it's true in 2018!:


So who ya gonna believe...racists?...or Batman?!?

Friday, December 01, 2017

The 1978 2017 Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar: December Defenders and Daredevils

Well, we got through another year, very nearly! And let's celebrate with a full-page, full-color montage of Spidey's Pals 'n' Gals by John Byrne! As a special bonus: it's before he went insane online!

"December Is Teaming with Dynamic Do-Gooders!" in The Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978 (1977); pencils by John Byrne, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by George Bell
(Click picture to Marvel Team-Up-size)

And, for your bonus final-month amusement and edification, here's even more Bullpen Birthdays and a special essay intoned by December birthday boy Stan Lee!

(Click picture to Stan's legend-size)

Finally, as a special treat, here's the Amazing, Spectacular, Sensational, Web of, Adjectiveless back cover of the 1978 Spidey calendar!


So remember to keep Spidey in your heart all year long, and to quote the final days of the 1978 calendar, but in full-color:


Final panel from Marvel Team-Up #1 (March 1972), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days of Defiance, Day 335: You tell 'em, Wonder Woman

"The Conscience of Man" — in the form of a beautiful transparent fairy, as good a form as any — has spent the last 50 pages sending the Justice Society of America throughout time striving to put right what once went wrong to battle the violent fear and prejudice of mankind throughout the ages. "I promised you a reward," girl with wings but sometimes not says, "Perhaps you already know what it is. You have earned it, and by earning it, you have attained the solution to your problem — it is understanding!" Which, in addition to being a pretty good albeit oft-forgotten Bob Seger song, is also the lesson du jour for fighting against bigotry and prejudice.



Panels from "The Test of Time!: Conclusion" in All-Star Comics (1940 series) #22 (Fall 1944), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by Joe Gallagher

So say we all!

The 1978 2017 DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters: December Destiny

Happy Holidays (because we've gotten over that War on Christmas nonsense) from one thousand years in the future! That's either 3017 or 2978, depending on whichever version of the DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Speculative Future Disasters calendar you're using. Of course, if you're talkin' a whole millennium from now, you're clearing tuning your Time Bubble in on Brane Taylor, Batman of the Year 3000 The Legion of Super-Heroes!

"December: The Legion of Super-Heroes" in The 1978 Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters; artwork by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel
(Click picture to Colossal Boy-size)

Why are the Legion at Toys "Я" Us in Times Square? Well, as some quick datebox captioning tells us, they went back to Christmas 1978 to spend time with Karate Kid who was living there in his miniseries at the time, getting ready to star in a motion picture with Pat Morita...look, just read this:


Meanwhile, it's the beginning of December, so what does that parapon of programming, the Justice League Computer, have to tell us about the idnetity of the Mastermind of '78?


HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR oh wait, since technically the computer doesn't get done with its computing until December 31, I guess we'll have to wait until then for the solution, huh? Talk about the answer coming at the last minute, huh? Well, at least we can comfort ourself with the clue given in the grid of the calendar itself, right?


NOW CUT THAT OUT!

(See you back here on December 31, kids!)

Thursday, November 30, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 334: Whoa, Aquaman is ticked.


Panels from Secret Empire #8 (October 2017), script by Nick Spencer, pencils by Andrea Sorrentino and Daniel Acuña, inks by Andrea Sorrentino and Rod Reis, colors by Sean Izaakse and Java Tartaglia, letters by Travis Lanham

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 333: Still, they resisted

Miss America has been captured by the Ubermädchen! How will the pageant survive? Oh, wait, this is Miss America the superhero, not Miss America the beauty queen. I've made another one of my silly mistakes. Carry on!




Panels from "Shipyard Sabotage!!" in Miss America Comics 70th Anniversary Special one-shot (August 2009), script by Jan Van Meter, pencils and inks by Andy MacDonald, colors by Nick Filardi, letters by Dave Lanphear

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 332: Say hello to my little friend



Panels from Poe Dameron Annual #1 (August 2017), script by Robbie Thompson, pencils and inks by Nik Virella, colors by Jordan Boyd, letters by Joe Caramagna

Monday, November 27, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 331: A thinly-disguised parable




Panels from "The Oxnalian Revolution" in Superman (1940 series) #15 (March-April 1942), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils and inks by John Sikela

Sunday, November 26, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 330: There's a skyman waiting in the stars



Panels from the Skyman story "The Rescue of Slaviski" in Big Shot Comics #29 (Columbia, November 1942), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by Ogden Whitney